We were lucky to catch up with Eric Edwards recently and have shared our conversation below.
Eric, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
Success comes to those with unrelenting drive and passion for their craft. Most will get knocked down and just pivot into a different direction.
When I originally got into real estate, I was recently divorced with no money and decided to use the last of my credit on my card to pay for the class, test, and all assosciated cost of doing real estate for the first year. Even as an Active Duty Sailor, I couldn’t afford to buy food for my children and barely paid my bills. I had no other choice but to go hard. By the end of the first year I had sold 52 homes and decided that I was going to make this my career.
Fast forward 7 years to today, I know own 5 real estate locations, Title, Mortgage, and insurance companies. The failures along the way were hard and at times you want to quit, but the thought of being in a bad financial situation always lingers in the mind and keeps you taking one step at a time.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I was in the Navy and a friend of mine was a Realtor. He was my agent and sold me a few homes from the beginning of our friendship. Once my divorce happened I approached him and let him know what was going on in my life and that I needed his service again. He helped me sell my marital property and said that I would probably be good in the business. I took the class and failed the first exam but took it a second time and passed. I joined Mike’s team and we took off running. Shortly there after he also went through a divorce of his own and we joined a local team together. After that first year I decided to move to a small boutique firm. I then recruited Mike there after about a year. There is when we started the Edwards Real Estate Team. We finished that year up with almost 70 million in transactions. Life officially changed when we went to see Ryan Serhant speak in Washington DC. His passion made me think bigger! While on a break sitting in my hotel room I came across an ad for Iron Valley Real Estate. It spoke to me. It was different and embodied being different. So I made contact with them and went through their demonstration, and I instantly knew we had to open a franchise. May 2020 we officially opened our own Brokerage. Mike and I were told constantly that the model wouldn’t work but we had the grit and determination to keep the press. Fast forward less than 3 years later, we have over 150 powerhouse agents and 5 locations doing over 1200 transactions annually.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Taxes! No one in this industry stresses the point of starting up a corporation and running your business properly. My first year I made a lot, and since I was a 1099 employee the tax man came and got a big portion of it. Now we teach each agent the importance of running your business properly.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
My divorced wrecked my life. In my outside appearance I was strong willed and determined. Privately I was falling apart. I ddeployed only a week after she asked me for that divorce. I was deployed across the world to deal with it alone. I was at a new command and knew absolutely no one. It ate me up and I turned to drinking. Drinking turned into a big problem. To the point I received a DUI at the age of 31. No license and no excuses could save me then. Thankfully my new wife has a heart of gold and a stern voice. She told me to get my stuff together and walk the right path. Since I’ve quit drinking, my life has progressed in ways I couldn’t imagine.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ironvalleyrealestatehr.com
- Instagram: Eric_bossagent_edwards
- Other: tiktok- @thereal_bossagent